"Saving Ford's hot hatch from becoming a fridge"
A resource site for owners of the Mk1 & 2 Fiesta
A huge thanks to Leslie (xr2000) for providing the words and images.
Got the dash in and bonnet release fitted and speedo cable in , what a fiddle the dash was switches on but rear lights are not working . Need to do some checks . I hope its just the bulbs :thumbdown:
New lights fitted into my gold zinc plated holders.
Got the interior cleaned up a bit ,It was Bogin dirty, had to powerhose the carpet and there are still grease /rust stains in it .Then cut a new bit of underlay for the drivers footwell and reused the rear footwell bit .The fitted the rear arch insulation and covers which have turned green. They it was onto the belts and a good search for the bolts.Fitted the speaker brackers and mint rear cards. Fair bit of rust on the metal back of the rear seat but no time to sort it now, Is the back easy to remove????????? The rear shelves still need fitted and c Pillar trims drilled for rear belts.Also got my need boots fitted to my 15 inch alloys(wolfrace urban racer 7s) that were fitted to the car when revs magazine had it , not as mint now and had a good few rust marks from grinding spatter , cleaned up ok for now though.I got toyo T1R 195.45.15 tyres for them.I prefer these to the pots but we will see. Started the vax up
Fited the 4 floor bungs I got plated then built up the mirrors with all the bits and got them fitted.The passenger mirror had a new genuine glass and just after I Popped it in I realised the cup washer (you can see it below the mirror shell) should be inside the housing not outside, there are a very tight fit so Ive just left it for now as I would never get another glass when I broke it . :thumbdown: Means the mirror doesnt adjust very well . I also got the door glass 1/4s and drop glasses fitted and the winders in after stripping quite a few doors trying to find glass that wasnt wrecked with grinding , regulators that werent shot and removeable glass guides thats werent totally rotten..most were the original one the bottom of it fell of once I undid the screw. Put the rear window in , it had a thin seal but it didnt fit the glass so I had to fit a thick seal after scraping all the rusty tailgate out of the grooves.The glass had some scrapes but not much I can do about that. Also got the gearchange spring fitted right , I had welded up the original hole .
Cracked on a bit more, Bonnet , spot brackets and kit now fitted.The kit was covered in underseal on the back especially the front spoiler and covered in gravitex overspray on the front (I did that) and it took a long time to clean it up with much scraping and t cutting the surface.On the rear arches all the studs but one are still there too although my wheelarch lips are rolled so flat they stick out a bit. Good dose of waxoly in the arches as I went too to help keep the rust out. Riveted the front spolier but everywhere else is self tappers for easier removal. Drivers side rear arch doesnt sit as well at the front as id like but I did want to bond it on .
Decals now fitted after a lot of measuring and marking with masking tape as I didnt want wonky stripes, not easy is it, especially the sills but good for a first attempt. Door ones are too long and the filler cap one is a little too short if you centralise it on the filler which I did,Still they look mint and have transformed the car so cant complain. . I also got the interior mirror fitted with a sticky pad and fitted the rear bumper once I waxoyled the back of it to stop the rust.New corners are a pig to fit though.
Front bumper fitted ,those bumper corners are hard work to refit even though they are used :thumbdown: grill , spots on and number plates fitted .The rear one is the original dealer plate shame it was never drilled straight. The dealer was prestons. Ran it up and down the very short drive a good few times and the brakes are getting better now .Still a few jobs to do like spoiler and good cards to clean and fit and lights to align etc and air breather to fit and its read for mot. Needs a good wash too its very dusty, I had to take the balance weights of the front wheels as they catch on the trackrod ends , the tyre fitter should have fitted stick on ones not the hammer on ones
It failed mot on a loose balljoint pinch bolt and the mot man didnt like my lowered springs and said they were insecure, but it was back in for the retest tonight after changing the rears for standard ones and I've got a pass at last, so I can now give the government some roadtax money, Im even keen to hand it over.
Well I had a good tighen up of all the bolts , the engine cradle rear ones had worked loose so glad a checked plus the alternator only had one lower bolt , dont think I ever fitted one. Got the tracking sorted and it was quite a way out but I only set it with a plank of wood anyway,Bit more stable now. Been fitting a few bits of trim , got the parcel shelf supports rivoted /bolted on ,Im using mk2 fiesta supports as they have the hole for the belt already in and got the black light cover trims also mk2 fitted.My parcel shelf is the early version as my car is an early xr2 it may be right dunno as ive the flat strut tops and cheaper looking carpet etc. Got my radio in its not wired but as its mw there not much point really anyway. I've the doorcards on too after rivot on the little brackets etc and cutting a plastic sheet to fit behind , gave the cards a good vax and they came up quite well. Lastly fitted my rs 4 spoke wheel , compared to the xr2 one the way it is tilted offcentre is very noticeable , nearly need one arm longer than the other but sure I will get used to it, bought dye to colour it but no time yet .
I had a steering wheel boss problem too so looked into a cheap fix and came up with this, You can see differences compared to a genuine rs boss.The bolt pcd for the wheel is ever so slightly out and the bolts are m5 by the looks of it not m6 like ford one.A little widening of the rs wheel holes by half a mm would let it bolt up id say. There is a tab on the back that would need cutoff to start with.I havent tried it on a fiesta yet though and the indicator cancel would need sorted not sure how yet. Check out the french quality all the holes are bored offcentre, any ideas?
All the rs wheels 3 or 4 spoke have the same 6 bolt fitting afaik ,so you just need the right hub.This one is the genuine ford motorsport one for a mk1 I bought years ago very hard to find now and expensive too. You can though fit a renualt 5 turbo boss with a few mods.I bought a renault 5 one to try it as it was cheap on ebay under
Went on the Neal egan memorial run down in sligo (ireland ) which is about a 90 mile drive mostly single carriageway over here (takes 2 hours) , then a 45 mile road run and back home .Heres a couple of pics, ther were at least 200 ford cars there and about 10 mk1s :
